3 Must Have Crucial Metrics

January 16, 2018

One piece of the proverbial SEO puzzle sends marketers into a constant state of taking action, in the hopes of connecting with customers, potential customers, and engaging with their audience on a more profound level through the use of various tools and gadgets. And in all that chase, a few pieces of information may slip through the cracks, never to find their way into the ever-changing equation that is conversion rate optimization.

Simply put, too much emphasis on taking steps and not enough attention directed towards the analysis of the results of those steps can make or break your progress. And no matter how many tools you use to view your metrics from yet another angle, and grow your understanding of your customers, which numbers, in a slew of them, are the ones that will determine your game-plan?

With so much information available, every skillful marketer needs to find their core points of reference in order to successfully reign the data, to establish a meaningful line of communication with their network of influences and their customer base. We all know that brand awareness doesn’t necessarily mean engagement, let alone satisfaction and long-term loyalty, yet these basic metrics determine all three. So, what should be the basic, most elementary purpose of each tool in a marketer’s toolbox?

1. Filtering the relevant from the useless

An essential determining factor during, but also before and after every marketing effort, needs to focus on numbers with meaning. Reaching out to a relevant minority should always take precedence over attempting to reach a massive audience of people who have no use of your product or service – that is the essence of quality targeting. The same goes for your (future, potential and current) brand ambassadors, social media presence and various advertising campaigns you’ll have to define and allocate them a purpose.

This is where spam-proof tools like Dibz step in to save the day, remove the unwanted excess of data, leave you with useful connections and calmly explain that “these are not the influencers you’re looking for.” If your results get overflown with less than optimal and un-customized information, you will waste your time filtering through data, possibly even resources on sub-par efforts, only to realize that your best chances lie in a handful of individuals who have access to a vast audience perfect for you and your brand.

The built-in spam algorithm delivers results that are specific not only to your business niche, but allows a highly-detailed search customization to eliminate the opportunities that don’t align with your brand’s purpose. Quality metrics over quantity metrics make all the difference in earning loyal customers.

Another way your metrics can get even more specific is when you target locally – which means you will often need location-specific keywords in languages other than English, and thinking locally in terms of metrics often (drumroll, please) translates to acting globally. Multi-lingual search enables a global outreach, and access to contacts that have impact in a particular location.

2. Cross-comparing essential data

In addition to being highly selective with your keyword research and your outreach network, a tool of your choice should enable you the freedom to observe, analyze and refine the given information in accordance with your current campaign needs. Many tools sacrifice a high level of organization, an easily manageable layout and transparency for the sake of volume. And we’ve already established that durable results require a more in-depth approach.

When you’re finally face to face with your lists and numbers of prospective link-building opportunities, you need a clear overview of data that comes from other sources, as well. Your past success metrics, conversion rates, engagement attempts and other efforts all come into play when you need to make your next marketing move. A single tool should aim to untangle this otherwise intricate web of information into a single source of cross-comparison that delivers results on the spot.

Potential solutions will emerge, and once again, you’ll be able to base your decisions on fine-tuned search options in order to narrow down your choices as much as possible. And while this may feel as if the said tool is doing all the work, you will know that the reins are in your hands all along, providing a high level of impactful control over your SEO efforts, all based on meaningful, fine-grained metrics.

3. Tracking your outreach

A tool that gives you not only the metrics themselves, but a means to use those metrics in measurable steps you can monitor at all times, is the cherry atop the rich frosting of your marketing cake. Passive data sitting in the toolbox bears no value to the modern marketer – we now crave the ability to immediately act on metrics and put them to work through a system we can always keep track of.

For multiple simultaneous campaigns that last over a longer period of time, it becomes essential to be able to have a unified outreach system to keep all your desired prospects under a single roof, which is precisely what platforms such as PitchBox can achieve with the right balance of customization versus template schemes, as well as hands-on effort versus automatization.

Then you have a direct view of which social networks work to your advantage, where your brand is gaining the most traction, which influences share the same values with your brand, how your audience loves to communicate, which brand qualities they appreciate and which do they find annoying, what brings your potential customers to the site and what might deter them from staying, and the list keeps growing. And of course, which of your efforts lead to the largest number of successful conversions.

On a final note

Every brand is a living entity, a shape-shifter that is constantly defined and created, both by its inventors and its audience. With this flexible, two-way scheme of things, marketers rely on tools on a daily basis to gather, sift through and use their beloved numbers for the sole purpose of enduring, and constantly growing brand engagement.

Precisely because of this fluid relationship, and the competitive environment in which it aims to thrive, marketers can and should never be “conjurers of cheap tricks” that rely on amplitude instead of aptitude. And obtaining, using, and employing metrics is no exception – so build and refine your toolbox wisely, in order to achieve results that will not fail to withstand and even outgrow the challenges of constant change.

Dan Radak is a marketing professional with eleven years of experience. He is currently working with a number of companies in the field of digital marketing, closely collaborating with a couple of e-commerce companies. He is also a coauthor on several technology websites and regular contributor to Technivorz.